All Blog Posts Tagged 'classical' (9)

I'll keep the background story brief about me and my horse Jobi for now. I'm sure it will develop itself with more posts. I owned him for many years and brought him up through advanced work in dressage using French Classical methods, life change forced me selling him only to later have the opportunity to buy him back. He was returned to me a very different horse and we are unweaving the many bad habits, resistances and new quirks.

I have been preparing for a clinic this weekend at Infinity Farm. It’s the my favorite clinic every year: Fundamentals of Dressage. One of my clients asked if it was going to be the same as last year. (Eye roll -is this a trick question?)

Nope, the fundamentals of dressage have not changed in the last year, or the last century for that matter. Dressage is the art of riding with balance…

So many riders find it hard to keep their seat and pelvis in the correct position on their horse. Your own conformation and the conformation of your saddle plays a huge role in allowing your seat to be in the correct position.

Take a look at the conformation of your saddle. Make sure that your saddle allows you to find a neutral pelvic position. Even if your saddle fits your horse, it doesn’t mean it fits you. Just because your… Continue

I've been giving a bunch of seat and leg position riding lessons lately, and I've discovered some interesting things about the correlation of the pelvis, lower leg, and losing your stirrups.
Does this ever happen to you?
• Do you lose your stirrups in the sitting trot?
• Does your horse slow down in the sitting trot or when you work without stirrups?
• Does your knee come out over the front of the saddle when you're in the sitting trot or canter?
• Does it seem that the… Continue

Back in 1970, when I began riding seriously, my BHI (graduate of Morven Park) instructor introduced me to the concept of behind the bit quite early in my riding career. What she said: 1) DON'T DO IT 2) It was a sign of bad horsemanship 3) Good riders NEVER rode behind the bit, at the top levels it JUST WASN'T DONE. Almost 40 years later, everywhere I look, horses ridden behind the bit are EVERYWHERE, in all disciplines, winning top prizes, including medals at the…